Page 9 of Everybody Needs a Hero

“Use mine,” Drew said, holding out her phone as she intercepted her at the door. “While we go get yours.”

Tess registered the word ‘we’ long enough to appreciate having someone for support and then dialed. “Come on, Ashley,” she said. “Please pick up.” After two rings, a recorded message broke in telling her all circuits were busy. “Shit. The call won’t go through.”

“Try texting,” Drew said while they hurried down the hall together.

Tess shot off a brief “are you okay” but moaned when the phone immediately returned an ‘unable to send’ message. Putting a warm hand on Tess’s forearm, Drew turned her until they were face to face. There was a calmness in the woman’s eyes that helped Tess center herself.

She knew what to do in an emergency. “Keep going back and forth between calling and texting,” Drew said. “Lots of people are checking on loved ones, but it will go through eventually. Now, follow me.” Drew led her down the rest of the hallway, past the elevator, and to the door marked stairs. Realizing what Drew thought, Tess swallowed hard. If there was one earthquake, there were often aftershocks. Getting trapped in an elevator could be a disaster.

“Thank you for helping me,” Tess said as they started down.

“You’re welcome,” Drew said without looking back. “Hang onto the handrail. I know you’re focused on calling your daughter, so I don’t want you to trip and fall.” Tess did as instructed and using one hand to hit redial and the other to hang on, they descended the four flights.

Frustrated, she still hadn’t been able to get through to Ashley even after they gathered her phone from her trailer and returned to the parking lot. “The message keeps saying all the circuits are blocked,” Tess said, trying to get through using both phones. “And texts are going nowhere.” She knew what she had to do. “I need to go find her.” The task wouldn’t be easy though. Transportation services provided by the movie studio picked her up every morning to drive her to the set. The town car was nowhere around, and she didn’t have a vehicle anywhere nearby. Glancing at Drew, she saw the woman watching her. The author’s face was unreadable. Tess sighed, knowing what she wanted was a big favor, maybe even a dangerous one.

Drew nodded before Tess could even ask. “I’ll drive you,” she said. “Let’s go find her.”

8

Navigating her white Pathfinder in dense traffic on the ten lane I-105 freeway through South Los Angeles, Drew did everything she could to keep them moving in the direction of the beach. The task was not easy as an unusually bad jam of LA traffic clogged every lane of the most direct route heading west toward the coast. In the passenger seat beside her, Tess continued to dial and text Ashley’s number every few seconds. Even with the phone to Tess’s ear, Drew heard the recorded voice say over and over that all circuits were busy. “Damnit,” Tess said, shaking the phone, exasperation mounting in her voice. “I can’t believe what’s happening.”

Changing lanes again to try to keep them moving, Drew glanced at the woman. She didn’t know Tess well enough to know how upset she might be getting, but the last thing she wanted was for the woman to panic. In her years as a nurse in different emergency departments, Drew saw an unfortunately large number of distraught parents and knew how crazy they could get when their child was hurt. “What’s your daughter’s name?” Drew asked, working to keep Tess calm. Watching her try again, Drew waited, hoping the call would connect. After a moment, Tess blew out a frustrated breath, and Drew heard the recorded voice again.

Angry, Tess pushed the disconnect button on the phone to silence the irritating operator’s repeating voice. “Her name is Ashley,” she answered. “She’s twenty-eight and owns a coffee shop along the Venice Beach boardwalk.” Tess rubbed a hand over her eyes. “There isn’t anything between her and the ocean but two hundred yards of sand.” She sent another text and started to redial the phone. “I’m scared sick.”

“Keep trying,” was all Drew could advise as they crawled along. While Tess kept dialing, the radio started broadcasting updated news, and Drew turned the volume up.

“We’ve been provided with a bulletin on the status of the region most impacted by the earthquake,” the announcer said. “As of this update, although there have been injuries, there are no reported deaths. Officials ask people to stay home and not try to reach any of the cities from Santa Monica to Marina Del Rey. Traffic lanes need to remain clear to allow emergency personnel access.” As Drew stopped the vehicle in the wake of red taillights, she watched for Tess’s reaction.

Biting her lip, the woman turned to Drew with pleading eyes. “I heard what they advise,” she said. “But until I can reach Ashley, will you please keep going? I have to know if she’s all right.”

Considering the situation, Drew wondered what it would be like to care about someone as much as Tess clearly did for her daughter.How much would I risk to ensure she didn’t need help?she thought. In the ER, she learned early on never to let herself become attached to any patient. For one thing, they rarely stayed in the unit long, and for another, too many of them didn’t make it. But the mother-daughter scenario she was witnessing firsthand felt different. Somehow over the miles, she had become invested in making sure everyone involved was okay.

As traffic picked up again, Drew kept going. “Let’s see how far we can get.” After another few minutes, traffic came to a complete standstill again, and Drew was tempted to take the upcoming exit. There was always the chance the surface streets might be better.Unless everyone has the same idea, she thought.And assuming nothing is blocked from impacts of the shaking. That seemed unlikely. The earthquake was reported as a four on the Richter scale, which was enough to knock dishes out of cupboards and give everyone a good shake but rarely powerful enough to damage most buildings. Plus, they were miles away from the predicted epicenter. It might be worth taking a chance. She turned to Tess.“What do you think of getting off the freeway?” she asked. “Try our luck using another route?”

Tess furrowed her brow, holding the phone to her ear. “I don’t know,” she replied. “The freeway is a straight shot to the coast, assuming it moves soon.”

Before Drew could decide, she heard Tess’s call finally connect. “Mom?” came a young woman’s voice loud enough to be heard in the car.

“Oh my God, Ashley,” Tess said. Out of the corner of her eye, Drew saw the woman’s hands shaking. “Are you okay? Where are you?”

Drew couldn’t hear all of Ashley’s answer, but it sounded like she was okay. “Do you want to keep going west?” Drew asked, and Tess held up a finger, listening for a moment.

“Come to my house as soon as you can.” There was a pause while Ashley talked, and then Tess nodded. “Yes, bring your friend too. Please go straight there, okay?”

Drew guessed Ashley must have said okay by the way Tess sagged back into her seat after hanging up. “Thank you so much for helping me,” she said with her eyes closed. “And I know I’m asking for too much considering we are basically strangers but…”

When Tess didn’t finish, Drew raised an eyebrow. “But?”

“But can you drive me home?”

With nothing and no one waiting for her anywhere, Drew nodded as she reached for the Pathfinder’s GPS. “What’s the address?”

Eyes closedand holding the phone to her chest, Ashley could finally take a full breath again. Not knowing where her mom was filming that day had been tearing her up. Hearing her mom’s voice, knowing she was safe and headed back to her house, was a huge relief. After repeatedly calling her but not getting through, Ashley no longer had to worry about her. They would meet back home later when things were taken care of at the coffee shop. That information helped Ashley focus on what else was happening around her.

Her coworker Kim sat leaning against the wall outside the coffee shop holding Ashley’s apron in her lap. Bloodstains covered part of the white Landish Coffee lettering on the apron, but at least the bleeding above her eye appeared to have stopped. Ashley was no expert, but the ugly gash would probably need stitches. “Can I try and get you anything?” she asked Kim, who shook her head, then winced at the movement.

“Ouch,” she said. “That was dumb. But I think I’m okay. Wondering if I should try to drive to the hospital.”

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